Harness And Plate For Long Walks

[reign180]

Hey guys,

I'm ready to begin my move into more technical diving and I want to get a Tec style BC or stainless plate and harness.

My main concerns are comfortability out of the water. In the water I know will be totally fine.
On top of Tec diving, I want to use the system for regular recreational use but I live in Sydney, and usually there are pretty long walks down to the dive sites for shore diving. So I'm worried about going from a recreational BCD with nice comfy padded shoulders and waist belt, to a basic harness with nothing. Are there any options to add padding and comfortability without compromising the strict tec "no frills" harness?

I've looked into the Transpac XT and the Hollis SMS100 but all the pure tec guys are steering me away from them as they're a bit too fancy and have too many bits to get stuck on wrecks etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tbone1004]

a lot will depend on what your exposure protection will be. You can quite easily put neoprene sleeves on standard one piece webbing harnesses, and backpads on most backplates. These are universal unless you have an odd sized backplate, but you'd know if you had one. These are pretty much unnecessary with a 3mm or thicker wetsuit top
Basic Harness Shoulder Pads | Dive Rite
Backplate Comfort Pad | Dive Rite

 

[cool_hardware52]

My standard reply to those seeking back plate and or harness pads:

Buy a kids wetsuit, ebay ~$10 Cut off the arms and bingo you have pads for the shoulder straps, cut slits for the Drings. Trace the plate on the torso of the suit and cut it out. Zip tie it to the plate.

That way when you cut all this stuff off after a few dives you are only out $10 and a 30 minutes.

Tobin

 

[kelemvor]

Hey guys,

I'm ready to begin my move into more technical diving and I want to get a Tec style BC or stainless plate and harness.

My main concerns are comfortability out of the water. In the water I know will be totally fine.
On top of Tec diving, I want to use the system for regular recreational use but I live in Sydney, and usually there are pretty long walks down to the dive sites for shore diving. So I'm worried about going from a recreational BCD with nice comfy padded shoulders and waist belt, to a basic harness with nothing. Are there any options to add padding and comfortability without compromising the strict tec "no frills" harness?

I've looked into the Transpac XT and the Hollis SMS100 but all the pure tec guys are steering me away from them as they're a bit too fancy and have too many bits to get stuck on wrecks etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you're going to get into tech diving, having two plates+harnesses will be an insignificant drop in the bucket. Maybe $125 including the hardware? Seriously, that's like a couple tanks of gas when you get into trimix, right? Get a deluxe system and a hogarthian system. They dive the same, switch to the hogarthian if you feel like you need it when you're actually diving a wreck or something. So long as you're using a STA for when you dive singles, you don't even need to purchase a second set of cam bands.

That hogarthian system really sucks on land with no wetsuit. I miss the adjustments even with the wetsuit.

 

[tbone1004]

we'll agree to disagree on that one. If I'm diving with nothing but a T-shirt and will be walking around a bit, I do like to have neoprene sleeves and a thin backpad so it isn't rough webbing and metal against skin or t-shirt, but as soon as any exposure protection is on, it isn't needed. I use my transpac for the scenarios above because I have it, but it will ultimately get replaced with a SS plate from Deep Sea Supply. I don't travel often enough to warrant putting anything on the harness so I won't be, but Tobin's advice on cutting up a used wetsuit is certainly a good one

 

[decompression]

We've got some walk ins that are 1/2 to 3/4 mile in.....this comes in handy...
Magna Cart Elite 200 lb Capacity Steel Folding Hand Truck - Walmart.com

Depending on terrain, it'll save the back.

 

[Tug]

We've got some walk ins that are 1/2 to 3/4 mile in.....this comes in handy...
Magna Cart Elite 200 lb Capacity Steel Folding Hand Truck - Walmart.com

Depending on terrain, it'll save the back.

I agree, those hand carts are great! I use them locally to bring down gear to the boat. If you're worried about someone taking it while you're in the water, a cheap bike lock will work. I believe @NetDoc has a cart with larger wheels that works on the beach

 

[reign180]

Thanks for the info and suggestions guys.
The wetsuit idea is a great one.

Going to go the route of the hogarthian system with a steel plate. Maybe a cinch in there as well to make getting into the thing ever so slightly easier.

 

[Aquavelvet]

Oddly enough, a properly adjusted harness is usually more comfortable than the usual jacket style BC. The reason is that the waist strap will transfer more of the weight to your hips, much like a properly adjusted backpacking harness. The cummerbund of a jacket BC is too high to provide support.
I initially bought two neoprene sleeves for my shoulder straps, but never put them on. Even when I'm wearing a light wetsuit or just a rash guard in warm water, the harness is plenty comfortable without extra padding.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Thanks for the info and suggestions guys.
The wetsuit idea is a great one.

Going to go the route of the hogarthian system with a steel plate. Maybe a cinch in there as well to make getting into the thing ever so slightly easier.

We (DSS) offer the glide harness adapter, but my standard advice for most divers is to try using the BP&W without it. What many Divers that have never used a BP&W miss is that a Hogarthian harness is not worn anywhere as tight as the typical jacket. If you have normal range of motion and are diving singles you probably don't need any form of release. Keep in mind that the vast majority of BP&W's in use today have no slide / GHA / Cinch / QR etc. Just properly adjusted and used by divers with good technique.

Tobin